Creatine for Beginners: What the Evidence Supports

Creatine monohydrate is the most thoroughly studied sports supplement there is, and the evidence is fairly clear: taken daily alongside resistance training, it helps most people do a little more work in short, hard efforts, which over months tends to mean slightly more strength and muscle than training alone. The usual dose is 3 to 5 grams a day, taken at any time, every day. You do not need to load, cycle it or buy anything more expensive than plain monohydrate. Expect a small, early rise on the scales, which is water held in muscle, not fat.

That is the short version. The rest of this post covers what creatine actually does, who gets the most from it, the side effects worth knowing about, and the questions I would ask before taking anything.

What creatine actually does

Your muscles store creatine, mostly as phosphocreatine, and use it to regenerate energy very quickly during short, intense efforts: a heavy set of squats, a sprint, the last few reps of a press. The body makes some creatine itself and gets more from meat and fish. Supplementing raises the stores in muscle further, typically by enough to matter.

With fuller stores, you can often squeeze out an extra rep or two per set, or recover slightly faster between sets. That is the whole mechanism. Creatine does not build muscle on its own. It lets you train a little harder, and the training does the building. If you are not lifting or doing hard intervals, there is little for it to improve.

The International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand on creatine, published in 2017 and freely available, is the best single summary of the research if you want to read further.

Who benefits most

• People doing regular resistance training. This is where the evidence is strongest.
• Vegetarians and vegans. They tend to start with lower stores because creatine comes mainly from animal foods, so they often see a larger effect. Our guide to vegetarian protein sources covers the rest of the diet side.
• Older adults lifting weights. Holding on to muscle matters more with age, and creatine is a reasonable, low-cost addition to a strength programme rather than a replacement for one.
• Sports with repeated sprints. Football, rugby, tennis, padel: anything with short bursts and incomplete recovery between them.

People who see less benefit: those who eat a lot of meat and fish already have fuller stores, and some people simply respond less. Pure endurance athletes may find the added water weight a cost rather than a gain.

How to take it

1. Choose creatine monohydrate. It is the form almost all the research uses. Buffered, liquid and “advanced” forms have not been shown to work better and usually cost more.
2. Take 3 to 5 grams a day. A level teaspoon is roughly that, but a cheap set of kitchen scales is more accurate the first time.
3. Take it whenever you will remember. Timing matters far less than consistency. With breakfast, in a post-training shake, with an evening meal: all fine.
4. Take it on rest days too. The aim is to keep stores topped up, not to time a dose to a session.
5. Mix it with something. It does not dissolve fully in cold water. Warm water, a shake or yoghurt works better. Taking it with a meal can reduce stomach upset.

Do you need a loading phase?

Loading means taking around 20 grams a day, split into four doses, for five to seven days, then dropping to the normal dose. It fills your stores within a week. Taking 3 to 5 grams a day from the start fills them in roughly three to four weeks. Both end in the same place. Loading is useful if you have an event coming up; otherwise it mostly increases the chance of an upset stomach.

What about cycling on and off?

There is no good reason to. The body does not stop producing its own creatine permanently, and there is no evidence that breaks improve results. If you stop, stores drift back to baseline over a few weeks.

Side effects and safety

For healthy adults at normal doses, creatine has a strong safety record across many years of research. The things worth knowing:

• Scale weight goes up. Most people gain a little weight in the first weeks, typically a kilo or so, because muscle holds more water. If you are tracking fat loss, know this in advance so you do not misread it.
• Body composition scans shift. Bioimpedance scanners such as the InBody read body water, so a creatine start can nudge lean mass readings upward. Start creatine well before a baseline scan or note the date you started. Our post on preparing for an InBody scan covers the other variables.
• Stomach upset. Usually from large single doses. Split the dose or take it with food.
• Blood tests. Creatine can raise blood creatinine, a marker used to estimate kidney function. That does not mean kidney damage, but tell your GP you take it before any blood test so the result is read correctly.

Check with your GP first if you have kidney disease, diabetes, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or take regular medication. Under-18s should also get advice before starting.

Buying it sensibly

A plain tub of creatine monohydrate is one of the cheapest supplements on the shelf. A few points worth checking:

• The label should list creatine monohydrate and nothing else. Blends with added caffeine or “proprietary matrices” make dosing harder.
• If you compete in a tested sport, buy a product carrying a batch-testing mark such as Informed Sport. Creatine itself is not prohibited, but supplements can be contaminated.
• Powder is cheaper than capsules. You would need several capsules to reach a single dose.

Where creatine sits in the bigger picture

If you are new to training, creatine is a long way down the list of what matters. Training consistently two or three times a week, eating enough protein, and sleeping properly will do far more. Creatine is a small add-on that makes good training slightly more effective. It cannot rescue an inconsistent routine. The same logic applies to protein supplements, which we cover in do you need protein powder.

Clients in the studio often ask whether they should start creatine on day one. My usual answer is to give it four to six weeks: get the routine settled first, then add it once training is regular, so you can tell what is actually working. If you would like a plan where those decisions are made with you, see 1-1 personal training in Highgate.

Questions we get asked

Will creatine make me look bloated?

The extra water is held inside muscle, not under the skin, so most people do not look puffier. Some notice a slightly fuller look in trained muscles.

Is creatine suitable for women?

Yes. The research includes women, and the effects on strength and training capacity are similar. The dose is the same.

Does creatine cause hair loss?

This comes from a single small study in rugby players that measured a hormone linked to hair loss, not hair loss itself. It has not been confirmed since. If you are concerned, speak to your GP.

Can I stop taking it whenever I like?

Yes. There are no withdrawal effects. Stores return to normal over a few weeks and the water weight goes with them. The strength you built through properly coached training stays as long as you keep training.

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